RED ALERT! LAST CHANCE TO SAVE THIS LAND

Should these trees be sacrificed for development?
The Minister for Lands, Tony Kelly, has refused to meet with Council to save these trees. The Department of Lands will start marketing this land on 15th May, even though -
- the government has allocated $80 million to urban sustainability projects
- a principle of Crown Land management is that the land and its resources are sustained in perpetuity
- this land represents the ONE LAST POCKET OF GREEN SPACE in Forest Lodge saved by the Green bans and the Labor government in the 1970s.

Why should the Dept of Lands NOT SELL this land?
- The trees on this land contribute to the environmental health of the neighbourhood and attract many native birds.
- Selling this land to developers will increase the urban density of an already over-crowded area, producing more pollution, parking and traffic problems.
- The local community has cared for this land for over 30 years and it should now belong to the Forest Lodge community!

TO SAVE THIS LAND SEND EMAILS AND LETTERS AGAIN.
Scroll for sample emails and letters to
1. Tony Kelly, Minister for Lands,
Level 34, Governor Macquarie Tower, 1 Farrer Place, Sydney 2000
Send 2 emails: tony.kelly@lands.nsw.gov.au
sharon.armstrong@lands.nsw.gov.au
tel: 9230 2528 fax: 9230 2530
Ask him to vest this land in Sydney City Council as public open space.

2. Clover Moore, Lord Mayor of Sydney,
Sydney Town Hall, 483 George Street, Sydney 2000.
email: cmoore@cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au
tel: 9265 9229 fax: 9265 9328
Ask her to acquire this land for public open space.

3. Sandra Nori MP, 225 Parramatta Road Broadway 2007
email:Sandra.nori@parliament.nsw.gov.au
tel: 9660 7586 fax: 9660 6112
Ask her to act on the community’s need for public open space.

4. Lee Rhiannon Greens MP, Parliament House,
Macquarie Street, Sydney NSW 2000
email: lee.rhiannon@parliament.nsw.gov.au
tel: 9230 3551 fax: 9230 3550
Ask her to raise this issue in Parliament.

5. Write to all parliamentarians in the Legislative Council
email addresses at
http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/Prod/Parlment/Members.nsf/
V3ListCurrentLCMembers

SHORT SAMPLE EMAILS
To Labor members of the Legislative Council
Could you please explain how it is that your government can on the one hand congratulate itself on providing $80m for the environment in its City and Country and Environment Restoration Program and on the other sell off 675 square metres of tree-covered Crown Land in densely populated Forest Lodge to developers?

To non-Labor members of the Legislative Council
Could you please ask the Labor Government to explain how it is that they can on the one hand congratulate themselves on providing $80m for the environment in the City and Country and Environment Restoration Program and on the other sell off 675 square metres of tree-covered Crown Land in densely populated Forest Lodge to developers?

LONGER SAMPLE LETTER
Dear

The Department of Lands has recently informed the Forest Lodge Trees campaigners that it intends to proceed with sale of the tiny triangle of land at the rear of 77 Hereford Street Forest Lodge.

I, the undersigned, am alarmed at the prospect of the loss of even more green space in Forest Lodge. This sale would appear to be a contradiction of Section 11 of the Crown Lands Management act which states that 'the natural resources of Crown land (including water, soil, flora, fauna and scenic quality) be conserved wherever possible' and that 'Crown land should be used and managed in such a way that both the land and its resources are sustained in perpetuity'.

The sale of this land would also appear to contradict the urban sustainability goals of the NSW government’s City and Country Environment Restoration Program. The trees on this land help reduce air, noise and odour pollution in the neighbourhood - an aspect of urban improvement that the Revitalising our Urban Environments program promotes.

This land should become public open space because the protection of this land and its environmental value is a logical step in the government’s urban sustainability goals. It will not cost one cent of the $80 million the government has earmarked for urban sustainability, unlike other sites across the metropolitan area, many of which require large sums to redevelop and maintain. Conversely, the environmental cost of losing this green open space forever is incalculable.

If the sale were to go ahead and the land were to be developed, this would result in an unmanageable increase in urban density in an already over-crowded area. The Forest Lodge area has seen 23 additional dwellings erected in the immediate vicinity of this land in the past five years, as well as many hundreds of new dwellings erected on the old Children’s Hospital site. Consequently, there has been a marked increase in traffic, noise and air pollution. Yet the Greening Sydney map shows no newly-opened green space to compensate for this dramatic increase in urban density.

The residents at 77 Hereford Street have looked after the land and the 12 mature native trees on it for 30 years. This land is a haven to native birds, the trees are visible from many vantage points in Forest Lodge and Glebe, and provide the community with much needed breathing space. If the land is sold, the only winner will be a property developer who buys the land, destroys the trees, crams maximum density housing onto the small irregular site of only 675 square meters and leaves without any regard to the social and environmental consequences.

I urge you to remember that both the community and governments at all levels have a responsibility towards sustaining our environment for future generations. I urge you to support the vesting of this land in Sydney City Council so that it can remain in public ownership for perpetuity.


Yours faithfully